1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to beehives and more particularly to beehives for use in tropical countries, which hives are fabricated from plastic materials.
2. Description of Prior Art
In developed Western countries, a relatively complicated type of beehive known as Langstroth hive has been the hive of choice. This is a "multi-story" device as shown in FIG. 1 to include a hive stand 11 which rests on the ground, bottom board 12, one or more hive bodies 14, in which are suspended a plurality of frames 15. Body 14 and frames 15 generally serve as a brood chamber for the hive. Above body 14 are stacked one or more hive bodies, also called "supers," 16 and 17 in which are arranged movable frames 19 and 20. The hive is topped by cover 21. An optical queen excluder 22 is generally positioned between body 14 and supers 16 and 17. The supers are provided to facilitate the storage of excess honey by the bees and its concomitant collection by the beekeeper. In such a hive, the various stories may be lifted off, substituted for and the like. A range of variations of this style have been prepared such as, for example, in West German O.L.S. No. 2,302,332.
This hive configuration generally works very well with the various species of bees prevalent in Europe and the U.S.A. These types of bees are relatively docile and will tolerate the interference that results from the lifting off and movement of the various hive "stories."
In tropical countries, the Langstroth hive has not been widely successful. For many of the less developed emerging societies, the Langstroth hive is too complicated and costly for widespread use. In addition, many tropical bee species are too aggressive for use in this type hive. They will not tolerate substantial interference with their hives--attacking the beekeeper, or abandoning the hive when the hive is opened. Other problems with the Langstroth hive when used in the tropics include its ground placement which permits attacks by insects such as safari ants who are capable of laying waste to entire groups of hives overnight and animals such as honey badgers, as well as ready devastation by grass fires. Additionally, its geometry has been arrived at to favor honey production at the expense of the production of beeswax--a material which has a good market in many tropical countries. Yet another disadvantage of Western hives is their usual material of construction--wood. In tropical environments, insects, fungi, etc. attack the wood and rapidly destroy the hive.
An excellent review of the beekeeping methodologies being pursued in tropical countries is presented by G. F. Townsend in his paper "Transitional Hives for Use with the Tropical African Bee Apis Mellifera Adonsonii" appearing in the text Apiculture in Tropical Climates (1976), pages 181-189. Townsend points out many of the above-noted failings of Western hives when used in the Tropics. Townsend reviews the hollow log hives, Kenya top-bar hives, and African long hives now being employed. These hives are generally elongate in design with a bee entrance at their end and often with a single removable lid. Historically, they have been fabricated of wood with its attendant disadvantages.
The hives of the present invention are fabricated from plastic. Plastic is known as a material of construction for Langstroth type hives as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,968,531, 4,199,832 and the like.